How to choose multivitamins for different groups of people?

Healthy people generally will not suffer from serious vitamin deficiency as long as they have a balanced daily diet, but for those who cannot fully absorb multiple nutrients, it is necessary to choose multivitamins reasonably.

Ordinary women: Jeffrey Blumberg, professor of nutrition at Tufts University in the United States, recommends that when women supplement vitamins, most basic vitamins and trace elements should be taken at 100% of the daily requirement (DV), that is, the total amount of a certain nutrient recommended for each person per day, but calcium is an exception. Helen Dirichatsios, a nutrition expert at Harvard Medical School, said that when choosing vitamin supplements, attention should also be paid to the dose of vitamin A. Supplementing more than 100% of the daily requirement of vitamin A will increase the risk of fractures in menopausal women and increase the risk of birth defects in newborns. For safety reasons, it is best to supplement vitamin A through "beta-carotene".

Pregnant women: If you are not particularly lacking in a specific vitamin or trace element, you can choose the most basic multivitamin. Pregnant women or women who are preparing to become pregnant should choose "prenatal vitamin supplements" because they contain large doses of folic acid, iron, zinc and calcium, which are essential for fetal health.

Elderly: People over 50 can choose a "senior multivitamin" with additional vitamin D, vitamin B12 and calcium. Most elderly people don't have to be too cautious when choosing iron supplements. Dr. Euan Manson, director of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said it is still unclear whether iron supplements increase the risk of heart disease in men and postmenopausal women. The small dose of iron in a standard multivitamin (18 mg per day) is still safe for most people. However, people with hemochromatosis are better off choosing a supplement that does not contain iron.